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Ozil in ‘no hurry’ to sign new Arsenal contract

Mesut Ozil is in “no hurry” to sign a new Arsenal contract but says it is far from decided he will return to Germany or play in Turkey.

Ozil has two years remaining on his contract at Emirates Stadium, but talks to extend it are reported to have been ongoing for several months.

However, the Germany midfielder says there is no rush to put pen to paper.

“There’s no hurry,” he told German news agency Sport-Informations-Dienst. “I have two years left on my contract. We’ll see how it goes at the end of the season.”

On the possibility of returning to the Bundesliga or one day playing in Turkey, where his grandfather grew up before emigrating, Ozil added: “I’m not saying that I definitely must return to the Bundesliga or spend time in Turkey. But I’m not ruling it out either. Maybe I’ll finish my career in England.”

Arsenal sit fourth in the Premier League, level on points with Manchester City and only five points clear of Manchester United, who have a game in hand in their quest for Champions League qualification.

Many see this season as a missed opportunity to win the Premier League title, but Ozil, who has contributed six goals and 18 assists, says finishing third was the pre-season target.

“If we finish third in the table and directly qualify for the Champions League, at least we will have met our minimum goal,” Ozil said.

“But we could have won the league title this season. We dropped too many points against the smaller teams.

“I definitely would not have believed it had someone told me before the start of the season that Leicester would win the title – nobody would have believed it.

“Hats off to Leicester. They always give 100 per cent and deserve to be top of the table.”